Nobody but crazy people would reject God, and crazy people aren't responsible for their decisions.
So doesn't the existence of Hell mean God knows that loving him and obeying him isn't exactly a great joy for everyone, and anyone who doesn't like it he'll toss into hell?
Doesn't the existence of a garbage can imply the existence of garbage?
Thus doesn't the existence of hell mean God knows he's not a joy to all people?
Why would knowing a god not be a joy?
2007-04-17 15:48:22 · 22 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Hell is the stick part of the carrot and stick approach to dominating the populace
2007-04-17 15:56:17 · answer #1 · answered by Desiree J 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Hell was created not for man but for Satan and the other fallen angels. The only people who will be in hell are the ones who reject God's only Son, Jesus. In the garden when Eve and Adam chose to eat of the forbidden fruit, they got exactly what they wanted which was to be able to know right from wrong. We often don't know what is good for us even though we think we do. Anyone with any sense can see what a horrible decision they made. They and all their descendents (including us) know right from wrong because of the fruit eating episode in the garden. People that reject Jesus aren't crazy, they are just too prideful to admit that they need a savior to take away their sin and won't humble themselves to ask for the forgiveness that He freely of salvation. People who don't accept God's free gift of salvation will find out too late that they have paid too high a price for their choice. Not all people will have joy. The ones who never know God can't know joy. If you know God you will have joy unspeakable. I truly hope that you can make sense of this. Satan is a deceiver and he may be blinding your eyes to the truth.
2007-04-17 16:24:43 · answer #2 · answered by garden lady 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hell is a place with out God. A Godless place. If it isn't of God then it is of Satan. Where do you want to go? It is a choice. We all have to pick a side. You have to actually search and work at the path of God, but the Path to Hell is at your feet every second and there is no effort needed. God created the earth, the gases, the gravity, the water, the animals, the complex human, and so on....Think about everything He created and what went into it. How can people not believe in our own creator?
2007-04-17 16:03:21 · answer #3 · answered by Melissa M 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
God is a God of Justice also. What justice is there when a person commits such evils on innocent people & ends up in heaven or a place of rest? The soul doesn't die. Where does it go?
Crazy people are responsible for allowing the devil to control them to do evil. Cain was jealous of Able (Who received favor from God for giving an excellent sacrifice). God told Cain that he could do excellently next time, but that when one doesn't do excellently, sin is waiting at the door to control you. You have to resist it. So sin waits at the door & possesses the person to murder the innocent, if person doesn't control it. It starts by not doing excellently, then mad because God/ leader, didn't show approval, then try to destroy the person who did excellentlly & favored. An example would be what happened at Virginia Tech.
Hell was made for the devil & his messengers. People can choose to be the devils messengers & murder others, or falsely accuse others, or sing the devils destructive music, etc...
2007-04-17 16:02:07 · answer #4 · answered by t_a_m_i_l 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I understand why you think nobody but crazy people would reject God, but hold on and calm down a minute. It's kinda hard for any person no matter how smart they are, but some people just see the world and the people in it, and see bad things happening to Christians, while they see people who aren't Christians having a blast getting drunk or having sex outside marriage. Basically, they see people having fun doing what the Bible says not too, and they think, hey i want to have fun, so they sometimes do. Once again, i really don't think anybody can judge what God does and doesn't know and i don't think you should try. Your trying to figure our what God is thinking, when the Bible doesn't tell us what he is, and it's impossible to do so. God is omniscient (all knowing) and i don't think you should question what He knows and what He doesn't.
2007-04-17 15:56:53 · answer #5 · answered by scrusso 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your reasoning is based on the common belief of Hell that is believed to be people tobe tortured forever from what I gather from your comments But is this belief true?
Have you ever seen anyone tortured?Hopefully not.Deliberate torture is sickening and abhorrent. What though, of torture inflicted by God? Can you imagine such a thing? Yet, this is exactly what is implied by the teaching of hellfire, an official doctrine in many religions.
Imagine, for a moment the following horrific scene: A person being roasted on a hot iron plate. In his agony he screams for mercy, but nobody listens. The torture goes on and on,hour after hour, day after day, without pause!
Whatever crime the victim may have committed, would not your heart go out to him? What of the one who ordered the torture?Could he be a loving person?In no way! Love is merciful and shows pity. A loving Father may punish his children, but he would never torture them!
Nevertheless, many religions teach that God tortures sinners in eternal hellfire. This, it is claimed, is divine justice. If this is true, who created that terrible place of eternal torment? And who is responsible for the excruciating agonies inflicted there? The answer would seem obvious. If such a place really exists, then God would have to be the creator of it, and would be responsible for what happens there.
Can you accept that? The Bible says:"God is love."(1John4:8)Would a God of love inflict torture that even humans with any measure of decency find revolting? Surely not!
Still many believe that the wicked will go to a fiery hell and be tormented forever. Is this teaching logical? The human lifespan is limited to 70 or 80 years. Even if someone perpretrated extreme wickedness for hios whole lifetime,would everlasting torment be a just punishment? No . It would be greatly unjust to torment a person forever for the limited number of sins that he/she can commit in a lifetime.
Who knows the truth about what happens after we die? Only God can reveal this information, and he has done so in his written Word, the Bible. Here is what the Bible says:"As the beast dies, so the man dies and they all have but one spirit....All are going to one place. They have all come from dust, and they are allurning to the dust."(Ecclesiastes3:19,20) There is no mention here of a fiery hell. Humans return to dust to nonexistence when they die.
In order to be tormented, an individual has to be conscious. Are the dead conscious?No."The living are conscious that they will die, but as for the dead they are conscious of nothing at all,neither do they anymore have wages, because the rememberance of them has been forgotten."(Ecclesiastes9:5) It is impossible for the dead"conscious of nothing at all," to experience the agonies of of hellfire.
Does that mean that wer are not punished for our sins? No, that is not the case. Our holy God punishes sinners, but he does not torture them. And when sinners repent, he forgives them.
2007-04-17 15:54:34 · answer #6 · answered by I speak Truth 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Theological point is you have a right to choose, and if you want to be without God then you go to hell. Have you ever heard anyone say: God is love? Its in the book somewhere. If you choose to live life without being loving, your life will suck (i.e. you will be in hell). In the end you will end up as wormfood but those who love will probably leave children. So the newsflash is that this is it.
2007-04-17 16:00:45 · answer #7 · answered by Frank 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's a great thing to do, trust me, some people are just too lazy to do it. So that's where hell comes in, hell is for people who don't obey God.
2007-04-17 15:53:19 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hell is where God allows people to live out the choice they have picked of rejecting relationship with Him. Hell is eternal separation from God.
God is love; love by its very nature requires freedom of choice; so God must permit people to freely love Him or refuse to love Him. God doesn't "toss people into hell" because He doesn't like them! God created everyone and He has a vision for the wonderful person He created them to be. He loves everyone and longs to be in relationship with each person, but He does not force Himself on people. He stands at the door and knocks; He doesn't break the door down.
He allows people to say no to Him because He treats them with respect. The Bible says that it is God's will that none should perish and that all should be saved. The only reason it won't happen like that is because people choose to reject God, and He honors their choice.
Your reasoning that nobody but crazy people would reject God is erroneous. Relationships are not necessarily a matter of logic or sanity. They are far more complex than that. Is it illogical to reject God? I believe it is; but how many relationships do you choose solely on logic? People don't understand enough about how much God loves them and how good He is. Some people just shut their hearts because they don't want the challenge of knowing.
God is a joy to be in relationship with, but the difficulty for many people is one of trust and willingness to humble themselves. Coming into relationship with God means you agree to submit to Him and acknowledge His authority over you, and not everyone is willing to do that. You have to acknowledge that you are not able in your own strength and effort to live a life good enough to please a perfect God, and you have to accept Him on His terms, which means receiving Jesus. Some people don't like that.
I can understand why God doesn't give people a free pass if they refuse the sacrifice of His own Son. If you sent your child to the execution chamber in some one else's place because you and the child both wanted to save that person's life, and then that person said, "nah, I don't like that way, it isn't good enough for me, I want some other way," what do you think you would say to that person?
The existence of hell only proves the foolishness and pride of people who refuse a loving relationship with a loving God. Knowing God might not be a joy for some people because they are unwilling to look at themselves and allow God to change them for the better. They don't want to have the Holy Spirit correct them and tell them not to do things. Knowing God personally IS the best thing in the world, but it does shake things up. Not everyone is willing to love God and receive love from Him. That doesn't reflect badly on God's character; in fact it is a testament to His patience. The Bible describes God as holding out His hands and saying, "Here I am, here I am" to people who do not call on His Name.
To any pre-Christians reading this, know that God knows you completely and loves you totally, and once you really come to know Him you will realize how priceless relationship with Jesus really is.
2007-04-17 16:21:19 · answer #9 · answered by Rella 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hell was designed originally only for Satan and the 1/3 of the "bad" angels..........but God gave us free will, and whoever rejects God their whole life, chooses against God. That's what choosing against God gets people, unfortunately for them.
2007-04-17 15:53:10 · answer #10 · answered by cindersadie 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The concept of a fiery 'Hell' is not a Bible teaching.It is a pagan teaching that has been fused in with apostate Christianity,so the priests can get money off their parishoners by 'praying for their souls'
2007-04-17 16:27:18 · answer #11 · answered by lillie 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋